Huckabee vows to shake up Mideast policies

“Whatever one’s views of the nuclear agreement with Iran – and we have been critical of it, noting that there are serious unanswered questions that need to be addressed – comments such as those by Mike Huckabee suggesting the president is leading Israel to another Holocaust are completely out of line and unacceptable”, ADL’s National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

“I feel like it is the right thing to stand with Israel in making sure they have the right to secure their homeland with safe and defendable borders, he said”.

“The connection between the Bible and Israel is important”, Huckabee said during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Shilo Tuesday afternoon.

Huckabee returned to the issue at the press conference, taking a position at odds with most of the international community regarding Israeli occupation.

The country neighbouring the West Bank, however, is Jordan which has a peace treaty with Israel.

“I don’t see it that way”, he said.

He later told the Israeli news site Ynet: “Jews have a stronger connection to Shiloh than Americans do to Manhattan”.

“I want to note the remarkable relations between Israel and the United States, but I also want to note on this awful deal – not only for Israel but also for America”. The comparisons to the Holocaust drew criticism in Israel and from many American Jewish groups.

In a video on his Twitter handle, Huckabee compared giving up land for peace with the Palestinians to giving land to ISIS.

During his Israel visit, Huckabee has met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials.

Huckabee also said he did not regret his comments warning that President Barack Obama was marching the Israelis to the “door of the oven” with the July 14 nuclear deal struck by Iran and world powers. But Huckabee is certainly the first to have held a fundraiser for his campaign in an Israeli settlement.

In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union , Huckabee argued that the Paraguayan government’s refusal to allow an abortion for the child, who gave birth last week after being raped by her stepfather, prevented a second tragedy.

“When I hear people scream “black lives matter”, I think, “of course they do”. It’s not that any life matters more than another”, Huckabee said.